Retractable self rolling blind, awning or cover apparatus

ABSTRACT

A retractable self rolling blind, awning or cover apparatus ( 11 ), comprising two or more sheets of fabric or other suitable material ( 17 ) affixed and wound conjointly about a keyway tube ( 12 ), the tube ( 12 ) being fitted with a conventional spring mechanism for use with blinds, awnings and the like, the spring mechanism being pretensioned so as to cause the sheets of fabric ( 17 ) to be rewound about the keyway tube ( 12 ) when one or more of the sheets of fabric ( 17 ) is released from its extended or unwound position, and wherein the keyway tube ( 12 ) and spring are allowed to travel unwinding and winding up of the fabric ( 17 ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to self-rolling apparatus based on a conventionalspring mechanism for items such as blinds, awnings and covers. However,the invention should not be construed as being limited thereto and anysimilar arrangement whereby the invention maybe suitably adapted ismeant to be encompassed including advertising signs and the like.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Conventional spring blinds are provided with a so-called hollow keywaytube onto which one end of suitable blind fabric or other material isattached, the remainder of the material being wrapped or rolled aroundthe periphery of the tube. A spring mechanism is provided within thehollow tube, which is itself supported between suitable brackets. Theblind fabric maybe caused to unroll for any desired length (up to thelimit of material rolled on the tube), usually by pulling on it, whichcauses the tube to rotate about it's axis, thereby winding up (ie.further tensioning) the spring mechanism. In a conventional, freehanging blind, a locking means is also provided which prevents thespring from unwinding by itself. However upon releasing the springmechanism, the tube is able to re-roll the unfurled material back ontoitself.

Such an arrangement is particularly suitable for vertically hung blinds,although the same principles maybe applied in other situations where acover (eg. Swimming pool cover) or awning is required to extend over aspecific area. However, where the blind or cover is not vertically hung,it will be generally found that the locking to secure the blind againstre-rolling means (usually in the form of pins which act with gravity) isnot needed as the blind itself will be preferably held taught by meansof some suitable arrangement such as a hook or catch arrangement.

In such situations however, especially in horizontal arrangements suchas pool covers or external awnings, there is a limit to the useful spanof cover which could be conveniently achieved (ie. Considering thelength of material which maybe unrolled), requiring larger springmechanisms to accommodate greater lengths of material to be extended andrewound. This of course means more difficulty of operation, as itbecomes necessary to pull against increasing tension of larger springsover greater lengths of material required to be unrolled. Hence thereare no known solutions for covering larger expanses.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome or atleast ameliorate some or all of the foregoing disadvantages by providingan improved retractable rolling apparatus, relying in principle on theuse of more than one sheet of material (and especially two sheets)rolled about a keyway tube of an otherwise conventional spring typeblind or awning mechanism, each of the sheets extending generally (butnot necessarily) in opposite directions, so that in the case of twosheets of material pulled in opposite directions, the span of extendedmaterial is effectively doubled for each revolution of the tube, whencompared with a single sheet.

In this way, the span covered by a particular size of spring mechanismmay itself be effectively doubled. This follows from the fact that thespring is twisted by the rotation of the tube. For a given number ofrevolutions of the tube, double the coverage will be achieved. It willof course be appreciated that compared with conventional spring blindmechanism in which the keyway tube and spring remains supported betweenfixed brackets, the keyway tube in the present invention is free totravel as the self rolling apparatus is unwound, the free end of onefabric portion itself being securely anchored or attached (instead ofthe spring and keyway tube being held in a fixed location as in aconventional arrangement).

It is generally found that with conventional arrangements especially inuse as an awning, the sagging, that is the weight and stability of thematerial extended over a large area is a major problem, in the presentinvention this problem is greatly reduced due to the traveling of thekeyway tube, and the tension of the spring.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a retractable selfrolling blind, awning or cover apparatus, comprising two or more sheetsof fabric or other suitable material affixed and wound conjointly abouta keyway tube. The tube being fitted with a conventional springmechanism or similar for use with blinds, awnings and the like, thespring mechanism being pretensioned so as to causing the sheets offabric to be rewound about the keyway tube when one or more of thesheets of fabric is released from it's extended or unwound position, andwherein the keyway tube and spring are allowed to travel duringunwinding and winding up of the fabric.

The ends (that is the spring mechanism end and the opposite idler end )which are normally supported between two fixed brackets in aconventional blind, awning arrangement are now provided with wheels or awheel unit or brackets attached to wheels or a wheel unit, a carriage oralike.

The wheels or wheel unit or alike will be placed in tracks or alike toprevent the spring from losing it's tension. The wheel unit placed inthe track will absorb the spring tension and not allow the springtension to be released, but at the same time allowing the wheels to rollfreely, and allow the keyway tube and spring to travel back and forthalong the track.

Thus, in one particular embodiment of the invention, where an area is tobe covered, such as a pool, pergola or over a glass roof, such wheelsand tracks will assist the rolling of the tube, especially by keepingthe fabric of the cover above the area to be covered, thereby assistingwith the rolling of the tube and it's material. This arrangementprovides great stability for the keyway tube and solid support for thematerial, thereby reducing the sagging of the material. In any event,any such wheels may conveniently be allowed to travel freely in thetracks over the area being covered, the tracks will provide thenecessary clearance needed. The type of wheels, the number of wheels andthe arrangement of wheels will depend on the particular use to which theapparatus is to be put.

It will also be understood that the position of any such wheels willdepend on several factors in the design of the specific unit to beemployed. Similarly any suitable roller type arrangement maybesubstituted for wheels as such. Although several geometricalarrangements are thus possible, it has been found especially useful tohave the wheel unit mounted on to the spring end and idler end where theembodiment functions as an awning or cover.

In a particular embodiment suitable for shade covers and awnings, iewhere the whole apparatus is effectively suspended above an area, oreven below a ceiling (eg. Glass ceiling), the spring end and theopposite idler end may be provided with wheels, or a wheel unitconveniently arranged to run on guide wires or the like to allow thetube to travel in the direction in which the blind or cover material isto be rolled and unrolled, but restricting lateral movement along theaxis of the tube, thereby giving it not only support but stability tothe arrangement as a whole.

To assist in this arrangement, the wheel unit or alike will preferablyhouse four pulley type wheels, two wheels at the top to sit and roll onthe wire and two wheels below the wire. The wheel unit will retain thetension on the spring but at the same time allow the smooth rolling ofthe wheels. The wheel unit in this case will encapsulate the wire sothat the wheel unit does not come off the wire during the rolling andunrolling of the material.

It will generally be appreciated that in any such arrangement describedherein, one end of one sheet of fabric or material will itself besecured in a suitable position for it's intended use, whilst the freeend of the other fabric sheet(where two are utilized), will correspondwith the free end of the blind material in a conventional single sheetarrangement, thus allowing the spring and keyway tube to move or travelas the rolling apparatus is unrolled and rolled.

To provide more tension and balance to the apparatus, the idler end canbe replaced with a reverse spring, so that the keyway tube now has twosprings, giving greater force and evenness to the apparatus as ittravels, rolling and unrolling the material.

However, whilst these are the preferred arrangements, especially insituations such as for use in swimming pool covers, or general awningarrangements, no such limitation is actually meant in relation to use ofthe invention as a whole and other arrangements, particularly forcertain special awnings and the like, and where more than two sheets areutilized, more than one such end may be held in fixed location asrequired.

Embodiments of the invention may find practical application as poolcovers, ground covers, for shading, as glass room covers, caravanannexes and extensions and so forth. In this regard, one particularembodiment utilizing three sheets of fabric, allows for a pair of sheetsto form an awning or effective ceiling, whilst a third sheet may dropdown from the central keyway tube to form a wall portion or divider.

It will also be appreciated in situations where the self rollingapparatus is utilized as say a swimming pool cover there areconsiderable advantages in having the two sheets of material unroll froma common tube since each piece of material maybe conveniently shaped tocorrespond to that portion of the pool over which it is to be extended.

With advantage, two or more self rolling apparatuses according to theinvention may be coupled together to extend the area which maybecovered. In this way, the end of one material panel will be connected bysuitable means to the end of another material panel extending inopposite direction from the next adjacent rolling apparatus. Thisarrangement can also be achieved by having one very long piece ofmaterial divided into sections and then locating a number of spring andkeyway tube and wheels arrangements at suitable points to allow for therolling and unrolling of the material as one unit.

When used as a pool cover, the apparatus according to the invention hasthe advantage of being more fully supported than a simple rolled outtarpaulin or cover. One advantage following from this arrangement isthat fallen leaves etc. are more readily kept on the cover (and soprevented from falling into the pool) so that they are transported awayfrom the pool area and may be removed conveniently by a suitablespreader type arrangement and allowed to drop say to the side, duringretraction of the mechanism.

One advantage that has been found in utilizing the invention is that thecreasing of the fabric as it rolls is markedly reduced where two or morefabric panels are wound up together, as compared with rolling a singlepanel in a conventional arrangement.

In another embodiment of the invention, an awning in which onehorizontal “ceiling” panel is formed from one sheet of material, whilsta second sheet forms a vertical “wall” is envisaged. The keyway tube inthis case may conveniently act as the junction of the wall and ceilingportions, being itself a rigid member to further provide stability andintegrity to such a structure.

Another embodiment of the invention resides in utilizing the selfrolling structure as an extendible vertical panel. In this embodimentthe wheels on one end, that is to say the lower end, of the self rollingapparatus will be perpendicular to those utilized in the aforementionedembodiments. The upper and lower wheels may run and be supported intracks or guides or alike. This embodiment will be useful in largedoorways or as vertical screens and temporary walls.

Although the spring mechanism in the majority of cases would be used itmay not be the only way to roll and unroll the material, it is possibleto introduce an electric motor (as used in awnings and blinds) toreplace the spring mechanism but still having the keyway tube travelingas it rolls and unrolls the material. This may suit more rigid typematerial such as aluminium, similar to the ones used for securityshutters, roller shutters and the like.

Another embodiment of the invention for use as a movable or transferableawning is to have temporary locking points located along the length ofthe tracks or wire allowing the apparatus as a whole unit to bepositioned, anchored and extended anywhere along the tracks, for examplefollowing the direction of the sun for shading purposes.

Embodiments of the invention may also find practical use as hose reelsor retracting electrical cord, as a temporary fruit net, a conveyer andso forth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings of which;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rolling apparatus, especially suitablefor use as an awning, according to the present invention, in the rolledup or contracted state.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention for useas an awning showing the spring end attached to the wheel unit insidethe track.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rolling apparatus according to FIG.1 but in an unrolled or extended state,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a similar arrangement to that shown inFIG. 1 and FIG. 2 for use as a cover, herein shown in the extendedposition only, except that a different wheel unit is allowed to travelon guide support wires.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention for useas an awning showing the spring end attached to wheel unit inconjunction with a guide wire.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a similar arrangement to that shown inFIG. 1 and FIG. 2 herein shown in extended form only for use as a roofand wall cover except that the tracks are provided with a curve tracksection to allow the wheels to roll downwards to create a wall.

FIG. 5 is a front view of an embodiment of the invention for use as anextendable vertical panel, herein shown in extended form only, the panelin this case is being pulled from left to right.

BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring generally to the drawings and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2there is depicted a rolling apparatus, generally referenced 11,comprising a keyway tube 12, having a keyway 13, which runs along thelength thereof. The spring mechanism end 14, and idler end 15, locatedat each end of the keyway tube 12 are fitted with a wheel unit 16, whichsupport the rolling apparatus 11 and allows it to roll in any suitabletracks 22.

Two sheets of cover material 17 are wound about a keyway 12. The inneredges of each sheet of material 17, not visible, are fitted within thekeyway slot 13 which runs along the length of the tube 12, in knownfashion (except that two sheets rather than one sheet are fitted). Thetwo sheets of material 17 are each provided with a bar member 18 attheir free ends to assist in pulling the sheets and generally supportingthe free ends thereof. Wheels 20, are fitted to the ends of bar member18 and then placed into tracks 22. One or more hooks 19 or similar pullfacility are also provided in the vicinity of the ends of the sheets ofmaterial 17 to further facilitate grasping and pulling, or otherwiseretain where appropriate, each sheet of material 17 against a fixedfeature such as a wall 27 etc. (not shown). In this case a pull stick 40is utilized as illustrated on one of the hooks 19, in this case acentral one at one free end of material 17, whilst the other end isretained by suitable means (not illustrated).

Bar member 18, on the free end is pulled along by hook 19, this free endis pulled in order to assist in it's travel across the relevant tracks22, especially where that area is relatively expansive, as this willprovide support and ease of use.

Depicted in FIG. 3 is an alternate arrangement in which the identicalcomponents are referenced with the same reference numerals. In thisembodiment however, the wheel unit 16, located in tracks 22, arereplaced with an alternate set of wheels unit 16 located instead onguide support wires 23.

In use, the invention as illustrated in either embodiment of FIGS. 1 to3 functions in an identical way. That is to say, in order to unroll theapparatus, it is only necessary to grasp and pull on one end of onesheet of material, whilst the end of the other sheet of material isprevented from moving by any suitable means. As the first sheet ispulled, it causes the rolling apparatus to unwind allowing the apparatusitself to move in the direction in which the first sheet is beingpulled. The apparatus is assisted in it's travel by rolling on thewheels provided. Due to the geometry of the arrangement, the apparatus(keyway tube and spring) will travel one half of the distance spanned bythe two sheets of material, that is the effective distance that the endof the first sheet itself will have traveled.

On the other hand it will be understood that the rolling apparatusitself maybe kept stationary and allowed to unroll as both sheets arepulled simultaneously in opposite directions should that arrangement bemore desirable in certain situations. In awning arrangements, it willalso be appreciated that each free end of material may be securedagainst movement whilst the rolling apparatus is caused to movetangentially away from the shortest line between the two ends to formfor example a wall and ceiling arrangement.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment suitable for use as an awning and side cover,wherein similar components to those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are againindicated by the same reference numerals. In this case the bar member 18on one free end is fixed by suitable means to for example a wall 27,while the other free end is extended forming a roof, the tracks 22 areprovided with a curve track section 29, the wheels 16 on the free endtravel downwards as the free end is extended further creating a wall.

Referring to FIG. 5 for use as a vertical screen, roll out door ortemporary wall panel, again utilizing identical reference numerals forsimilar parts to those in FIG. 1 and 2, there is shown a self rollingapparatus 11, comprising a keyway tube 12. The spring 14 and idler end15 mounted on to a wheel unit 16, which are placed and roll in tracks22. One free end is attached to a wall 27, by suitable means as theother free end with bar member 18 is extended horizontally, in this caseleft to right to enclose a doorway for example. The wheels 16 travel ina track 22 placed along the ground and in the opposite track 22 aboveit, the apparatus in this case is sitting vertically and is allowed totravel back and forth.

The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention,and modifications to those skilled in the art can be made theretowithout departing from the scope of the present invention.

1. A retractable self rolling blind, awning or cover apparatus,comprising two or more sheets of fabric or other suitable materialaffixed and wound conjointly about a keyway tube which is supportedbetween rotatable mounting means, said mounting means being guided by atrack guide means; said tube being fitted with a conventional springmechanism, said spring mechanism being pretentioned so as to cause thesheets of fabric to be rewound about the keyway tube when said sheetsare released from an unwound position and wherein said tube travelsduring unwinding and winding up of the fabric along the said track guidemeans, characterized in that there is no tension bar coupled to saidtube and wherein the tension of the spring mechanics is retained via theinteraction between the said mounting means and said track guide means.2. A retractable self rolling blind, awning or cover apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the travel of the keyway tube and spring areassisted by providing the spring end and idler end with wheels or wheelunit or alike depending on the particular use to which the apparatus isto be put.
 3. A retractable self rolling bind, awning or cover apparatusaccording to claims 1 and 2, in which such wheels are caused to roll inappropriate tracks, the tracks allow the free rolling of the wheels andat the same time retaining the tension on the spring during the travelof the keyway tube and spring mechanism.
 4. A retractable self rollingblind, awning or cover apparatus according to claims 1, especially whenused as an awning, in which the whole apparatus is suspended above anarea, or below a ceiling, the spring end and idler end are beingprovided with a pulley wheel unit, which is arranged to run on a guidesupport wires to allow the tube to travel in the direction in which theblind or cover material is to be rolled and unrolled, but which restrictlateral movement along the axis of the tube, thereby giving not onlysupport but stability to the arrangement as a whole.
 5. A retractableself rolling blind, awning or cover apparatus according to claim 4, inwhich the pulley wheel unit is located on the guide support wire inorder to retain the tension on the spring and allow the free rolling ofthe wheels, and the travel of the keyway tube and spring mechanism.
 6. Aretractable self rolling blind, awning or cover apparatus according toany one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein three sheets of fabric are woundaround the keyway tube, thereby allowing for a pair of sheets to form anawning or effective ceiling, whilst a third sheet is allowed to dropdown from a central keyway tube, when the other two are unwound, to forma wall portion or divider.
 7. A retractable self rolling blind, awningor cover apparatus, according to any one of the previous claims, whereintwo or more self rolling apparatus are coupled together in line toextend the area which may be covered.
 8. A retractable self rollingblind, awning or cover apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,wherein there is provided an awning in which one horizontal ceilingpanel is formed from one sheet of material, whilst a second sheet formsa vertical wall, the keyway tube acting as the junction of the wall andceiling portions.
 9. A retractable blind, awning or cover apparatusaccording to claims 1 to 3, wherein the self rolling structure functionsas an extendible vertical panel, the wheels on the upper and lower endsof the self rolling apparatus are held in tracks and aligned so as toallow lateral travel thereof.